A New York judge dropped criminal charges against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn yesterday, over three months since he was indicted by a grand jury over allegations that he sexually assaulted housekeeper Nafissatou Diallo in his suite at the Sofitel hotel in New York.

At the time of his indictment, Strauss-Kahn was taken "downtown" by the New York police and paraded in front of the media in a very public "perp walk" that was heavily criticized by many in France.

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg also came out against public perp walks, saying, "I've always thought the perp walk was outrageous...even if they're guilty, they're not guilty until they're convicted and yet we vilify them."

Nevertheless, the perp walk remains a common practice across the country.

AM Talk Back: Should perp walks be public?

Let us know what you think. Your answer may be read on this morning's broadcast.

soundoff(3 Responses)

Paul

Quite simply no...they imply guilt at a time when a person is supposed to be 'presumed innocent'. Its simply contradictive.

August 24, 2011 at 9:47 am |

Mitchell

It is a tool used by the Chief of Police, the Mayor and the District Attorney to help show how tough they are on crime. Useful mostly for their re-election or re-appointment purposes and mostly political in nature. Has very little value otherwise except to tant public opinion to believe the person has to be guilty because they saw it on television.

August 24, 2011 at 9:21 am |

Tyler Sprague

Ah, the walk of shame. "Perp" walks are one way to see a persons attitude within a trial and another way to see how they deal with humiliation. Hey, it's better than stoning!

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